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Posted: 5/21/2004 9:07:45 PM EDT
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I clean my bushmaster religously and have experienced only 2 malf.s in about 4k rounds<orlite range mags>. When is a good time to change springs and highwear parts like the firing pin retaining pin and maybe the buffer spring and gas rings. I generally change springs out on my pistols @ 2k. Does anyone know a good number for AR parts replacement? Thanks in advance Bullittorange |
First dont clean too rigorously,more ARs have more wear and tear put on them from over cleaning than actual shooting.If your hammer or trigger pin starts to walk its time to replace the spring.Keep some high loss comon breakiage parts on hand and an extra bolt laying around maybe in the grip with a firing pin and retaining pin.A disconector would also be a good idea.In a bolt the first things that can go is the extractor or ejector.I use chromed ones from lesbaer and they are still going at their optimum after 6000 rounds.As long as you maintain it it will shoot and shoot and shoot. I use RRA parts from pete in New Hampshire.
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My oldest and first AR (post ban Bushmaster 20" A2 rifle bought brand new by my father in 1996) still has the original buffer spring, bolt assembly and trigger group springs and it's had at least 20K rounds through it over the past eight years. All of the previously mentioned parts are springs and parts are still going strong. Knock on wood 
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Great question bullittorange. It's obvious that carrying a spare bolt is wise but which parts are most often the culprits and why? What other parts (especially large, hard to carry parts) simply need periodic replacement and how often? Cool question - I'm an old grey-hair but still a noob that hopes to learn something from the responses. Maybe nothing ever breaks (right!), but if enough specific experience regarding actual breakage is offered, I bet we'll find there's a lot of variability. Therefore I hope folks also offer us some insight into their specific conditions like what piece it was that actually crapped out and "mostly use 64gr PowerPoint" or "in-country so quite a bit of full auto", "real humid here in Florida", "lots of powdery dust over here", etc. Steve EDITED TO ADD: I was reading back over model927's excellent response and if enough folks can help like that, maybe we could create a list in a spreadsheet or something. We'll see how it goes. |
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All of the common wear/breakage parts can be found in a Bushmaster Field Repair Kit. The extractor and firing pin are the two parts of any real substance that are subjected to wear (and the firing pin only when a primer is pierced or something). The other parts are springs and pins. The hammer spring and extractor springs are the first to wear out, but usually last well beyond 5,000 rounds. The firing pin retaining pin is another commonly-replaced part. I recommend having 3-5 spares of these common parts per rifle. It won't cost much, as these are very inexpensive parts, and you'll save shipping by buying a bunch at once instead of waiting until something breaks. -Troy |
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Unfortunately, not entirely. Probably 90+% of the parts are universal, but there are a few parts specific to the large FCG pins that you would probably want to have on hand. In fact, I would recommend having a spare of the entire FCG, so if something breaks, you won't have to wait on mail-order to get in replacement parts. -Troy |
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Troy, First, thanks for the help. Each cleaning I'll include a good inspection the extractor and the firing pin. Thanks for the parts-bag tip too. I found a good inventory of what's included and a couple of other collective "kit" options under http://www.bushmaster.com/shopping/lowers/ However, it sounds like the idea of "scheduled" replacement of much more than hammer spring and extractor spring (perhaps firing pin retaining pin too) might not be the right way to go. Please correct me or clarify if I'm getting the wrong idea. Steve |
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